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Saturday, October 27, 2012

The content of this blog post may not be suitable for all readers. Reader discretion is advised.

A friend recently suggested that my
life is “all body parts all the time.”
In some ways, she’s not wrong.With my reconstruction now complete, I’m able to turn my full attention to researching and writing my master’s thesis which also focuses on a particular (but different!) body part. In case you haven’t been
following the story, I’m writing about the Haredi practice of metzitzah b’peh (oral suction as part of
Jewish ritual circumcision) that, in the last eight years, has resulted in 11
cases of neonatal herpes in New York City, including the death of two babies. Recently the New York City Board of Health voted to require Haredi mohelim to obtain written consent from parents before performing metzitzah b'peh as part of the baby's bris. The Haredim have filed a lawsuit against the city, and a judge ordered a stay on the requirement until the next hearing, which is scheduled for November 14.But, rather than get into further
details here, I’ll let you read the section on Jewish ritual circumcision
that I’ve just completed...which also partially explains why I haven't been able to blog here in recent weeks. Jewish Ritual
CircumcisionAccording to
Klein (1992), “[t]he operation of ritual
circumcision consists of three steps:

1.Milah, the cutting
off of the foreskin.

2.Peri’ah, the tearing
of and folding back of the mucous membrane to expose the glans.

3.Metsitsah, the suction
of the blood from the wound.” (p. 422)

Initially, these
steps were described in the Talmud—a compilation of rabbinic writings completed
by the 5th century—in the context of what can and cannot be
performed on the Sabbath. According to
the Talmud, “We may perform all the necessities of circumcision on the
Sabbath. We may circumcise, uncover the
corona, draw the blood, and place a bandage and cumin upon it.”

Later, these same
steps were described again by Moses Maimonides, the 12th century
Torah scholar and physician in his Mishneh
Torah (Repetition of the Torah).
This 14-volume work describes all the laws of Jewish observance as
detailed in Jewish texts (Torah and Talmud).
In his Mishneh Torah, Maimonides
writes:

How
is the circumcision performed? The
foreskin that covers the crown of the penis is cut off until the entire crown
is revealed.

Afterwards,
the soft membrane that is beneath the skin should be split along the mid-line
with one’s nails and peeled back to either side until the flesh of the crown is
revealed.

Afterwards,
one should suck the place of the circumcision until all the blood in the
further reaches is extracted, lest a dangerous situation arise. Any [mohel]
who does not perform metzitzah should
be removed from his position. After one
has performed metzizah, one should
apply a bandage, a compress, or the like. (Touger,
1991)

It is important to note that the
Hebrew Maimonides used to describe the third step in the process is metzitzah [suction], not metzitzah b’peh [suction by mouth]. Although
the text does not explicitly specify the suction method to be used, it is
plausible to presume that during Maimonides’ time, suction by mouth was the
only feasible way to draw blood away from the circumcision wound. Touger (1991)
offers this commentary on the text, providing an explanation of why metzitzah b’peh has largely been abandoned
by all but the most ultra-Orthodox Jews:

Traditionally,
the mohel sucks out the blood with
his mouth. Nevertheless, in previous
generations, the Rabbis did grant license to use a pipette because of the
possibility that germs in the mohel’s
mouth might infect the child. Today,
there are authorities who suggest the use of a pipette because of the danger
that the mohel could contract AIDS. (pp. 220-221)

And yet, like
their brethren in 19th century Hungary and Germany who believed the
commandment to perform metzitzah b’peh
was handed down from God to Moses, Haredim in New York City continue this
custom, believing that their practice imbues it with the weight of Jewish law. According to Dvoretzky and Roth (2012), counsel to the International Bris
Association (IBA), one of the three organizations that has filed suit against New
York City for its efforts to obtain parental consent prior to ritual
circumcisions in the Haredi community:

Traditionally, metzitzah was performed using direct oral suction—metzitzah b’peh (“MBP”)—and this method
remains in widespread use in Hasidic, Orthodox, and ultra-Orthodox Jewish
communities. Indeed many prominent
rabbinic authorities maintain that MBP is the only legitimate way to properly complete the circumcision in
accordance with Jewish law. (p. 26)

It seems extremely unlikely,
therefore, that the Haredim will forsake metzitzah
b’peh under any circumstances, despite the possible health risks to both
the infant and the mohel that have
been identified by generations of scientific experts—and heeded by rabbinic
authorities—beginning in the 19th century.

Thursday, October 11, 2012

Although I have little affinity for numbers, for much of my
adult life I’ve been fascinated with dates—such as today—that have some order
or progression to them.I recall signing
in at my summer job (where, in 1977 at 14, I think I was still a volunteer) at
the Franklin Township Public Library when the date was 7-7-77.

Many years later on July 8, 1990, I watched Charles Kuralt
quip on CBS Sunday Morning about what had happened at 34 minutes and 56 seconds
after midnight (and would happen again at a bit more than half past noon) on
that date.Yes, the time and date
readout was a perfect sequence of numbers:12:34:56 on 7/8/90.

In the early 90s while living in northern New England, I’d
randomly point out to anyone who’d listen, let’s say on August 8, 1992, that “Sixteen
years from today, it will be 08-08-08.”In
the same vein, I’d note, on April 3, 1995, let’s say, that “Seventy-four years
ago today, it was 4-3-21.”This quirky
habit continued through the turn of the century and, once I’d relocated to Los
Angeles, with my new friends and colleagues out there.

It should come as no surprise, then, that in the wee hours
of today a Los Angeles friend (who now lives in West Virginia) sent me this Facebook
message:

Let me be the first (and probably
only!) to wish you a happy 10/11/12!!! :-)

She may have been the first, but she definitely was not the
only.At 8:34 a.m., my former boss from
New Hampshire (who now lives in western Pennsylvania) forwarded to me this
email he’d received earlier in the morning from his daughter:

From: Scott’s Daughter [mailto:scottsdaughter@gmail.com]

Sent: Thursday, October 11, 2012 8:11 AM

To: Scott

Subject: In place of Jane

Since
Jane Herman isn't here to remind you......

Today
is 10/11/12

:)

Enjoy it, everyone.It won’t be 10-11-12 again until 100 years
from today!

Monday, October 8, 2012

The most recent edition of RJ magazine includes this little blurb
that I wrote last year just before the High Holy Days.I wouldn’t normally point something like this
out to you, but this past Saturday was Brian’s bar mitzvah and I chose my
jewelry for the occasion very carefully.Included in my ensemble were a necklace and two bracelets that belonged
to you. When we got to temple, Aunt Claire was wearing earrings--which
you know she doesn’t do very often.They
were very pretty and I complimented her on them.She told me that you had given them to her.It seems that you were on everyone’s mind
that morning.

The bar mitzvah was lovely and
Brian did a great job. The service was a
bit long, though, given that it was a double and there were the extra Hallel readings for Sukkot (as well as a
second hakafah before the scroll was
returned to the ark. I’ve never seen
that done…have you?) You’ll be
interested to know, too, that in Conservative congregations, God’s still reviving
the dead, unlike “by us” where the Eternal is giving
life to all. :-)Meitim vs. hakol aside, the Conservative siddur
lists the matriarchs in the order that you prefer them: Sarah, Rebecca, Leah and Rachel, and Ted told
me that every time that passage was read, he thought of you. You really were ahead of your time. Amy and I opened the ark before the Torah
service, Daddy carried one of the scrolls, and Aunt Claire had an aliyah. She did a wonderful job; you would
have been proud.

At the reception, I chatted with Sherry and Marvin Freedman and all of Aunt Claire's neighbors and friends -- the Marks', the Ronans, and the Kossins. We talked about you, and Mrs. Ronan told a story about Uncle Irv. Before long, we were all laughing about his cigarettes and how he'd stick them in his pocket whenever anyone came out into the garden to check on him. Those memories never seem to fade...they've just gotten sweeter with time.

Here are some pictures so you can
see how we’re all looking these days.We
missed you, but in so many ways you were right there with us…as you are
always.

Ian: Getting so tall, but still sweet as ever

Ian and Amy

Pretty Jill (she's 15!)

Daddy with Amy and me

Chag sameach, The Mums and xoxo,

~ Boo!

P.S.Melinda Panken used your ethical will as part
of her remarks during Yizkor on Yom Kippur and Peter Weidhorn told me that
there wasn’t a dry eye in the sanctuary.I think that your values are living on in ways that you probably couldn’t
have imagined when you first penned those words.xoxo.

Sunday, October 7, 2012

I love that the umbrella of Torah is so big and wide that this past Friday's edition of the URJ's Ten Minutes of Torah was about BRCA mutations and Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer (HBOC). I'm honored to have been able to use such a widely read forum to raise awareness about this topic, and I appreciate all the wonderful feedback I've received about it.

First prize, though, goes to Marvin Freedman, who printed out a copy and, when he saw me at yesterday's family bar mitzvah, asked me for my autograph! Marvin, who served on the URJ board of trustees with my mom, and I are not related, but might best be considered "kissing cousins." His wife, Sherry, is a cousin of the bar mitzvah boy's paternal grandfather, z'l, and I'm a niece of the bar mitzvah boy's paternal grandmother. Small Jewish world, indeed!